The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

Charles Arant

Juha-Pekka J Laine

Robin Mark Adrian Dawson

Murali V Chaparala

Matthew T Jamula

Stephen P Smith

Benjamin F Lane

Gregory P Blasche

Joseph M Kinast

Simone B Bortolami

Robert A Larsen

Robin Dawson

Sean McClain

William Ostrowski

A navigation system includes a star camera having a field of view. The star camera includes a sun shields that selectively block portions of the star camera's field of view, to prevent unwanted light, such as light from the sun or moon, reaching image sensors of the star cameras. Some sun shields include x-y stages or r-θ stages to selectively position a light blocker to block the unwanted light. Some sun shields use positionable partially overlapping orthogonally polarized filters to block the unwanted light. Some sun shields use counter-wound spiral windows that are selectively rotated to block the unwanted light. Some sun shields a curved surface that defines a plurality of apertures fitted with individual mechanical or electronic shutters.

Star tracker with adjustable light shield

A navigation system includes a monocentric lens and one or more curved image sensor arrays disposed parallel and spaced apart from the lens to capture respective portions, not all, of the field of view of the lens.

Navigation system with monocentric lens and curved focal plane sensor

A probabilistic landmark navigation system is arranged to obtain from one or more image sensors one or more terrain images of a target terrain to be traversed by a vehicle. The terrain images are characterized by multiple individually non-distinctive terrain features without distinctively identifiable landmark features. The non-distinctive terrain features in the one or more terrain images are compared to map database information to make a non-temporal probabilistic determination of absolute location coordinates to associate with the non-distinctive terrain features. Then a navigation path is determined for the vehicle across the target terrain based on the absolute location coordinates.

Probabilistic landmark navigation (PLN) system

A device and method for selectively illuminating and designating multiple targets in the air or on the ground simultaneously. The device comprises a light source, a switching array and a ball lens. Light from the light source is routed through the switching array, which can addressably output multiple light beams simultaneously. The light beams from the switching array illuminate the backside of a low F-number ball lens. The ball lens creates highly collimated output beams independently (and simultaneously) from any of the output source points of the switching array. These output beams can be used to simultaneously designate multiple targets. When the target illuminating device includes an optional detector array, light scattered from targets can be refracted by the balls lens to impinge on the detector array. Signals from the detector array representing the received light beams can be used for target imaging.

Multi-target optical designator

Growing community of inventors

Wesley Chapel, FL, United States of America

Charles Arant